Haiti footballer urges Coach Sanjay Sen to rest him for the tie
Kolkata: Mohun Bagan was dealt a huge blow on Friday as Sony Norde is unlikely to travel with the team to Colombo to play the AFC Cup qualifiers. The Haiti international complained about a hamstring injury in his right leg to Bagan coach Sanjay Sen during the practice session on Friday. Norde was seen doing some fitness drills with physical trainer Garcia. The team will leave for Colombo on Sunday to play the first qualifier on January 31. The Mariners will have to play two preliminary fixtures to qualify for the main round of the premier club tournament in Asia.
According to Norde, “The team will be leaving on January 29th and I cannot go with the team because I am feeling some pain in my leg. I will be waiting for the Aizawl game (which is on February 04). I hope we can win qualifier against Colombo FC. I have informed the coach before the practice today. He told me to do some exercise with Garcia.”
The Haiti footballer looked quite upset with his injury.
“Sometimes injuries do happen to a footballer and you cannot help it. I would have loved to play all the matches in AFC Cup but as I said it is unfortunate that I had to carry the injury. The best part of our team is we have a big squad with quality players in every department,” said Norde to the reporters after the practice session.
Mohun Bagan coach Sanjay Sen will have to play 9 matches (including the AFC Cup qualifiers) in a span of 16 days. The Mariners will play three tough matches in I League against Aizawl FC, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC during this period.
According to the gaffer, “It is definitely going to be tough to play 9 matches in a span of 16 days. But we knew about the fixture a long time back. Last season also we faced a similar situation and the boys are habituated with such a situation. It will no doubt be a huge pressure on us to come out with flying colours in all the matches.”
Norde also echoed a similar opinion as his coach.
“It will be a very tough time coming up for us in the next few days. I am sure the coach and the management will work out what will be the best for the team. May b e the coach will have to rotate the players as both the tournament is very important for us. Especially the three I League games coming up is very important.”
Norde further added, “The game coming up against Aizawl is very important. It will give us the confidence for the derby which is on February 12. But if we lose or win, it won’t matter as we have to give our best against East Bengal. We know the derby is very important for supporters. But as players important for us is to win trophies and not derby.”
To make matters worse for Sanjay Sen, few more key players also have injuries. The list is quite a long one with injuries to Pronoy Halder , Raju Gaekwad , Kingshuk Debnath and Eduardo.
According to Sanjay Sen, “Yes, we do have injuries to few players. But we have too big a squad to find the replacements. Both Sehnaz Singh and Pranoy Halder can play in central defence. We also have Souvik Ghosh who can be another option in central defence. So, we have players who can replace the injured ones.”
The gaffer hinted at rotating his players as he has plenty of options in all the position.
On being asked about his opponents in AFC Cup qualifiers, Sanjay Sen said, “Frankly speaking, I have no idea about them (Colombo FC). I have managed to get their videos and will sit sown with my players before the match.”
Meanwhile Mohun Bagan is likely to get the green signal from Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to host its matches at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium. The AFC match commissioner from Maldives, Mr Abdul Ghafoor visited the venue for an inspection. Also accompanying Mr Ghafoor was Mr Anil Kamat from the Federation. According to sources in the club, the match commissioner is likely to give the go ahead for the AFC matches to be held at the venue.